Members of the Indian community say they are saddened by remarks from the shadow education minister, who linked Indian nationals to Malta being filthy.
The Malta Malayalee Association said they were concerned the comments could lead people to think Indian nationals were “uneducated and dirty”.
“We are human beings too and we came to Malta legally, with work permits, so how can he say that,” a spokesperson asked.
On Monday, Nationalist MP Justin Schembri said Malta was “full of filth, shabbiness and Indians”, a comment that drew sharp criticism from NGOs Repubblika and Aditus and Equality Parliamentary Secretary Rebecca Buttigieg.
Stressing such comments by Schembri fuelled racism, the spokesperson for the Malta Malayalee Association, which represents people from the Kerala region of India, said the shadow education minister’s words had the potential to instil discrimination in the younger generation.
“I feel very sad about his statement,” he said, “We pay taxes and are equal in the eyes of the law, so how can he say that?”
The spokesperson rejected Schembri linking Indian nationals to unsanitary conditions, stressing most Indian nationals residing in Malta were well-educated, with many employed in technical jobs and in the country’s healthcare system, especially nursing.
“We have cultural differences, but our humanity is the same,” he said.
The spokesperson stressed that while he had been saddened by Schembri’s words, in his experience they only reflected the opinion of the minority of the Maltese he had encountered, speculating the shadow minister may have issued the statement for “political reasons”.
He added the group, which he said represents around 2,500 people, was considering taking legal action against the opposition MP. According to census data, in 2021 there were more than 7,000 Indian nationals living in Malta.
Indian parents worried about children
Meanwhile, two Indian parents Times of Malta spoke to said they worried Schembri’s words sent the “wrong message”.
One father said while he hadn’t faced discrimination personally, he was worried his eight-year-old son and six-year-old daughter could if such rhetoric were to influence others in their classes or the parents of other children.
And asked what he thought to the prospect of Schembri ever being appointed education minister, another father said he was worried such an eventuality “could lead to bad changes in the system”.
“Politicians need to think about their words before speaking as they affect people... it’s a multicultural society; he [Schembri] needs to realise that,” he said.
The opposition MP has said he will not consider retracting his comments and has said on Facebook he will “keep talking because I am not afraid to tell the truth”.
He initially made the comments under a Facebook post from ONE News showing Prime Minister Robert Abela meeting with staff from the cleansing department and Project Green, with Schembri saying "the government has turned Malta into a dump."
Schembri has denied his words were racist, instead describing them as a “generic comment”.
On Tuesday evening, PN leader Bernard Grech distanced himself from the MP's comments and said he had spoken to Schembri about them. He stopped short of saying whether he intended to discipline the MP or strip him of his education portfolio.